New cafés and restaurants will replace closing pubs

New cafés or restaurants will replace around 2,000 pubs or bars in the UK that are set to close over the next three years.

According to analysts Datamonitor, nearly 300 new cafes and 1,900 restaurants are expected to open by the end of 2013, while around 2,000 pubs and bars are predicted to close in the same period.

"While it is well documented that pubs and bars are closing at an alarming rate, the increase in venues perceived to be more cultured for socialising and eating with friends has been ignored," said Kaustav Ray managing analyst at Datamonitor.

"That said, there's still a massive gap when you look across the channel so it may be too soon to claim that we've moved to a European lifestyle - we have nearly 10 times more pubs and bars in the UK than in France, yet only a third the number of full service restaurants and cafes."

The report showed that UK pubs and bars will take $4 billion in sales this year, compared to only $580 million in France.